Guanajuato, Gto., March 21, 2017. The University of Guanajuato (UG) is at the 12th place in the ranking of the Best Universities of Mexico, a list which measures the quality in teaching, postgraduate offer, research level, accreditation of the offered academic programs, prestige, inclusion and diversity in the Higher Education Institutions of the country.

The 2017 ranking, published in March by "El Economista", in alliance with American Economic Intelligence, reveals a better positioning of the University of Guanajuato, who in 2016 was placed in the 15th place. Three of the criteria where it stood out was the postgraduate programs offer, the number of exchange students from foreign universities and the inclusion of students with a disability.

In the region, UG was evaluated as the second-best university in the country's western area, just below the Universidad of Guadalajara. Besides, it is one of the institutions in the country who received more foreign students during the period 2015-2016, area where it places in the third national place.

This year, the ranking of the Best Universities of Mexico included a new analysis element: Inclusion and Diversity, which measures the participation of women, indigenous and people with special needs, as well as scholarships. This, to consider that "the educational process enriches for the presence and interaction of people from different places, with different life experiences, which create a fundamental learning framework, to understand complex and changing environments."

The University of Guanajuato placed sixth national place in this aspect, with a greater percentage of students with some disability.

In general, UG showed a growth in the index of quality, which went from 35.21 in the 2016 ranking, to 45.89 in 2017. One of the best evaluated areas is the postgraduate offer, which is based in the classification of the National Program of Quality Postgraduates (PNPC) of the National Council of Science and Technology.

The methodology to evaluate the Higher Education Institutions of the country, is based in the Teaching quality (30%), Research (20%), Prestige (15%), Internationalization (15%), Postgraduate offer (10%), Accreditation (5%) and Inclusion (5%).

Some of the analysis elements to elaborate the ranking are the size of the teaching staff of the institutions, the quantity of requested and granted patents, the quality of the research (publication and members in the National System of Researchers); exchange of professors and students with foreign universities, double degree agreements, pre-degree academic programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Higher Education (Copaes), and the evaluation of employers.